Friday morning we headed south to Portland for a visit with John's nieces, Becky (& husband John) and Ruth (& husband Chuck and 3 boys Jack, Joe and Michael), his sisters, Mary and Ruth and Mary's husband, Curly. The sisters live in southern California and the nieces both live in Portland.
We left after rush hour so the traffic wasn't too bad. I had booked a room on line at the Rodeway Inn near niece Becky's house but when we told her, she thought it might not be too nice - they drove by a couple of days ago and said we probably shouldn't stay there - it was right next door to a Strip Club. So, I cancelled and re-booked at one of the places Becky recommended - Homewood Suites by Hilton. The price was good and included full breakfast.
The drive down was mostly Interstate and it was gloriously sunny all the way and WARM. Finally, the temperatures were in the 70's and 80's. We arrived and settled into our suite which was very nice. We headed out to buy a new laptop for John - checked out Best Buy and Costco - bought it at Costco. The nice thing about shopping in Oregon is that there is no sales tax.
We went to niece Ruth's home and had a happy reunion with the family - who we had not seen in a number of years. We shared a few bottles of wine and Ruth made a nice dinner. It was a very pleasant evening of catching up and reliving memories.
Saturday morning we enjoyed a big breakfast at our hotel and then found our way to Alpenrose - a big commercial dairy who does a lot for the community including building and maintaining a beautiful Little League ballpark. We all watched young Michael and his teammates lose a baseball game. The weather was fabulous - clear blue skies and warm temperatures. All the pale Oregonians were trying to add a little color to their skin. From there we went out to lunch and then consolidated into Ruth's van for a drive up to the Pittock Mansion for a view of the mountains. Due to the fabulous weather we had a beautiful view of Mt Hood, the port of Portland and we could see several other mountains.
Later we gathered for our final dinner at Becky and John's home. Again we enjoyed a little wine and a delicious meal. Another old friend from John's past, Herb, was invited over and we enjoyed the addition of his cheerful company.
All in all, it was a wonderful family visit and we're hoping that we can all get together again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment